A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er suddenly realized why Shopkeeper Liu knew about Feng Laoliu. She looked outside warily and said, "I have nothing to hide from you. This man was actually a subordinate of the former second-in-command of Qingfeng Village. When I was first bought on the flower boat, I was almost given to Lord Long by that old brothel owner. Later, I was rescued by Brother Xichen when he was suppressing bandits. This man was responsible for watching over Taohua and me in the restaurant at the time, but he hid away for some reason and was not caught. That day, he went to the Marshal's Mansion to deliver Lantern Festival snacks and recognized me. When he came to me that day, I suspected that he was most likely trying to extort some money or something. After all, he is now poor and destitute. But at that time, Sha Yanxiao was the one who asked his adjutant Dali to settle him down, and then took me back to the back of the Marshal's Mansion. They went out again, and I don't know what they did."

Shopkeeper Zhang pointed to the photo in the newspaper and said, "So, that man was a bandit who committed many evil things. He was lucky enough to escape the suppression. He's not a good person. Even if the young marshal gets rid of him, it might not be a bad thing."

Shopkeeper Liu said, "That's not the point. The key question is why we want to get rid of him. If we've got rid of him, why give him such a large sum of money? This matter won't involve our Gui'er, right?"

Gui'er thought about it and she didn't think that this matter would have any bad influence on her. She was just worried that it was Sha Yanxiao who did it. It was entirely possible that Feng Laoliu used the fact that he knew that Sha Yanxiao was the leader of Qingfeng Village in the past to threaten him.

But if they were going to get rid of him, why not just strangle him to death? Why give him a few gold bars? This actually arouses suspicion.

Gui'er said to Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu, "Give me this newspaper. I'll go back and ask Sha Yanxiao."

Shopkeeper Zhang's eyes widened as he said, "Your child, can you ask directly about this kind of thing? What if he gets it wrong and he gets you…"

Gui'er smiled and waved her hands, saying, "Not really. Of course I wouldn't ask directly if he killed her, but I've met that person before, so I'm just testing him. I've been by his side for so many years, so I should be able to tell from his expression whether he killed her. I'm not trying to help him, haha. I just feel like Sha Yanxiao wouldn't kill someone to silence them for such a small matter."

Shopkeeper Liu still disagreed: "You grew up with him, and he's always been nice to you, so you think he's a good person, but you forget that he's essentially a warlord. The ruling class is very cruel to those who threaten their interests. It's better not to act rashly."

Gui'er knew that what Manager Liu said made sense, but she still felt that she was not wrong. Sha Yanxiao was not usually so ruthless towards those who offended him.

Before returning to the Marshal's Mansion from the Zhenxiu Workshop that day, Manager Liu specifically instructed Gui'er: "Even if you bring this up when you get back, don't ask directly if he was responsible. This is an emergency. Even if you normally think he's protective of you, you still need to be careful and vigilant."

Guier agreed.

Back at the Marshal's Mansion, Sha Yanxiao had also returned from the barracks. He smiled and asked Gui'er, "Are you working as an apprentice at the pharmacy again today? After all these days of rest, you're suddenly busy again. Are you tired? Is the pharmacy business busy?"

Seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, Gui'er didn't even sense that there was anything wrong. After hesitating for a moment, she bravely said, "The pharmacy is not very busy today, but I saw a newspaper bought by Manager Liu in the pharmacy today. The person in the newspaper seemed to be the one we met that day." As she spoke, she took out the newspaper she brought back from the pharmacy.

Sha Yanxiao saw Feng Laoliu's photo at a glance, picked up the newspaper, and read the news in shock, muttering, "Feng Laoliu is dead?"

Gui'er was now 100% sure that Feng Laoliu was definitely not killed by Sha Yanxiao.

She waved her hand, letting the servants go away, and then asked Sha Yanxiao softly, "Brother, why did that man come to you? If he suddenly died now, would it implicate you?"

Sha Yanxiao casually threw the newspaper on the table and said, "That shouldn't be the case. I still want to find out who killed him."

Gui'er said curiously, "The newspaper said he had gold bars on him..."

"It wasn't me who gave it to him. I did give him some silver dollars. He complained to me, saying that when he was in charge of watching over you and Taohua, he caught a cold, so he found a room in the inn to sleep in. Luckily, he escaped the disaster and didn't dare go back to the stronghold. But he couldn't accomplish anything big on his own. He stole and robbed for several years. Now he's old and weak, and finally found a job. I don't think he's a scammer, and considering that he's a brother in the stronghold, I can't take him in anymore. But, at least I gave him some silver so that he can cultivate two acres of land and marry a wife to live on."

Gui'er thought for a moment: "In other words, those gold bars on him were not given by you? Then who could it be?" She wondered if Feng Laoliu was killed for his money because he had lost it, but it didn't make sense, after all, his money was still on him.

"I gave him 20 yuan, but the gold bars weren't mine. With his net worth, he wasn't worth a few gold bars. I think his death might have something to do with those gold bars. I don't know what he did. Everyone has their own destiny, so I'll leave it to him."

Gui'er looked at Sha Yanxiao and saw that he didn't seem to be lying, but she always felt uneasy in her heart.

The next day, when I was helping to pound medicine at Zhenxiufang, Song Xichen arrived.

Gui'er quickly avoided the other guests and asked, "Brother Xichen, I saw in the newspaper yesterday that a man named Feng Laoliu was murdered and had several gold bars on him. Are you investigating that case?"

Song Xichen was a little surprised and said, "You still remember him. You were still young back then, and I thought you had forgotten him long ago."

Gui'er glanced around and quickly pretended to help him prepare medicine while saying, "I really don't remember this person before, but he sent some snacks to the Marshal's residence a few days ago. Later, he came to us himself, apparently asking Sha Yanxiao for money or wanting him to take him in or something."

Song Xichen said thoughtfully, "Is there such a thing?"

Gui'er was afraid that he would suspect Sha Yanxiao, so she quickly said, "Do you suspect Sha Yanxiao? I don't think so, because I asked him after I saw the newspaper that day, and he said he only gave some silver dollars, not the gold bars. I believe he's telling the truth."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "Don't worry, the case is closed."

Gui'er was very surprised and asked quickly, "Really? They found the murderer so quickly, who is it?"